I Should Be Writing

Open

• 2022 Word Count: 41200 (?)

Good News Good News

• Team Rejection count: 93 (maybe? Bots broke themselves)
• Ditch Diggers returns April 4!
• Horizon Forbidden West Family Game Time

Main Topic: Agents, and the Magic We Need them to Do

• Listener question: when to approach an agent when publishing agreements are already in place
• How to find out who represents an author
• Basic reasons why you need an agent

March 22, 2022 | Season 18 Ep 24 | murverse.com Copyright 2022, Mur Lafferty | BY-NC-SA 3.5 License

Open

• 2022 Word Count: 39600ish
• Ursula’s word count today: 1120

Good News Good News

• Team Rejection count: 93

Main Topic: Ursula Vernon. ‘Nuff Said.

• A Wild T. Kingfisher Appears! Here There Be Cursing…
• Sushi Good, deep fried fish bad… wait, what? Nah, really?
• Book Club: We Fear No Spoilers Here (or, Don’t Talk About Spoiler Club)
• The dietary habits of oxpeckers
• Story time: Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking
• Evil Mur and Evil Ursula Appear!
• Ursula’s new project: Steven Universe meets Silence of the Lambs
• The discovery of birdwatching

Bonus Content

• Pitching & Selling books on Twitter
• How Live Hate-Tweeting Midsommar led to a sale
• Top Three Tips for Writing Middle Grade Stories

March 17, 2022 | Season 18 Ep 23 | murverse.com Copyright 2022, Mur Lafferty | BY-NC-SA 3.5 License

Open

• 2022 Word Count: 38500?

Good News Good News

• Team Rejection count: 93
• Last chance Hugo nominations (ends March 15)
• Upcoming changes at Escape Pod

Main Topic: Brain weasels

• When brain weasels attack and charge down riding the avoidance buffaloes
• Juggling the various stresses that live rent free in your brain, when they don’t need to be there
• The weasels may be strongest at the start
• Control the lure of the distractions

March 15, 2022 | Season 18 Ep 22 | murverse.com Copyright 2022, Mur Lafferty | BY-NC-SA 3.5 License

Open

• 2022 Word Count: 38083

Good News Good News

• Team Rejection count: 81
• Yay Premee Nebula nom
• Yay secret project update
• Notes on Writing the Other
• [ dog cam and dog treats activated ]

Main Topic: Falling into those Fiction Traps, and Ways to Sidestep Them

• Writing yourself into a corner using a background character that grows beyond your boundaries
• Art imitating life, but life is not narratively tidy, while fiction tends to be
• Feed your subconscious deeply and well, and let things percolate

March 10, 2022 | Season 18 Ep 21 | murverse.com Copyright 2022, Mur Lafferty | BY-NC-SA 3.5 License

Open

2022 Word Count: 37083

Good News Good News

• Hugo nominations are open through March 15
• Team Rejection count: 81
• Nebula Awards Finalists announced, and there was much rejoicing!
• Ditch Diggers update

Main Topic: Task Avoidance Hows and Whys

• Taking action: applying things learned from self-help tips
• Finding the reasons (fears) we are practicing task avoidance with the writing that needs to be done (perfectionism, sunk costs fallacies, etc)
• Ira Glass “The Gap”
•             https://www.thisamericanlife.org/extras/the-gap
•             https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/the-gap-by-ira-glass-9651a750408f
• Taking writing baby steps can build confidence and momentum, and treat yourself

March 8, 2022 | Season 18 Ep 20 | murverse.com Copyright 2022, Mur Lafferty | BY-NC-SA 3.5 License

Open

• 2022 Word Count: ~34809
• Doing character research… ?

Good News Good News

• Hugo nominations are open through March 15
• Team Rejection count: 78
• ISBW Book Club launch imminent

Main Topic: Why most writers can't duplicate Sanderson, told through Animal Crossing metaphors. 

• Clearing the slates in Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing
• Building a new island with Brandon Sanderson-like business aplomb
• Working to make enough money to be able to buy cool stuff to make your island better

March 3, 2022 | Season 18 Ep 19 (Episode 650!!!) | murverse.com Copyright 2022, Mur Lafferty | BY-NC-SA 3.5 License

ISBW S18 Ep18

Open

• 2022 Word Count: ~34000

Good News Good News

• Hugo nominations are open for 2022
• Team Rejection count: 55

Main Topic: The Agency that Characters Should Have

• Giving lead & side characters the ability to make choices about their own paths
• Good choices, bad choices, at least they make the choices

March 1, 2022 | Season 18 Ep 18 | murverse.comCopyright 2022, Mur Lafferty | BY-NC-SA 3.5 License

Open

• Mur’s newest, STATION: ETERNITY, will be out on October 4 2022 (Cover So Pretty)
• 2022 Word Count: ~31000
• Murder mysteries should not be boring
• There’s no such thing as a working convention visit
• Authors cannot control book prices. Don’t yell at them about that, please?

Good News Good News

• Hugo nominations are open for 2022
• Team Rejection count: 44
• Beefing up story in Midsolar Murders Book 2
• Will Staehle: Art Good

Main Topic: Making Story Bibles Work

• Why you might need a story bible, and how you might start one
• Building a list of what needs to be in a story bible
• Maintaining continuity is key for both authors and readers

February 22, 2022 | Season 18 Ep 16 | murverse.comCopyright 2022, Mur Lafferty | BY-NC-SA 3.5 License

Open

• STATION ETERNITY will be out on October 4 2022 (Cover So Pretty)
• 2022 Word Count: ~34000

Good News Good News

• Hugo nominations are open for 2022
• Team Rejection count: 50

Main Topic: The Burdens of “Could” and “Should”

• Analysis Paralysis has entered the building… with a shiv… now what?
• When stories are wanted, needed and cared about. Or not.
• Evil Mur appears!
• What to work on when
• Move on to new projects

February 24, 2022 | Season 18 Ep 17 | murverse.com Copyright 2022, Mur Lafferty | BY-NC-SA 3.5 License

Open

• Mur’s newest, STATION ETERNITY, will be out on October 4 2022 (Cover So Pretty)
• 2022 Word Count: 29193
• Heading for Boskone

Good News Good News

• Hugo nominations are open for 2022
• Team Rejection count: 42

Main Topic: Ending Your Stories

• Ambiguous endings: where lies the story satisfaction?
• The endings structure of romances
• Save the Cat Beat Sheet for story parts
• Advice on Endings from James Patrick Kelly
• “Beginnings, Middles, and Ends” by Nancy Kress
• “Save the Cat Writes a Novel” by Jessica Brody

February 17, 2022 | Season 18 Ep 15 | murverse.com Copyright 2022, Mur Lafferty | BY-NC-SA 3.5 License